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GOABC Joins Air Canada Fight. Plus, New Black Rhino Available

(posted June 02, 2006)

Another powerful organization - The Guide Outfitters Association of British Columbia (GOABC) - has joined the battle against Air Canada's planned gun-handling fee. They have done so by filing an official complaint with the Canadian Transportation Agency, denouncing the airline's planned levy on firearms as "discriminatory and without justification." We have that straight from GOABC's General Manager, Dale Drown. In a formal statement, the GOABC called the fee "…nothing but a cash grab on the backs of hunters and competitive shooters."

The complaint was filed on behalf of all 209 members of the GOABC in four jurisdictions. Drown says his members service approximately 6,000 clients per year, a significant number of which could be directly affected by the Air Canada fee. Drown says he has spoken with representatives at other shooting and hunting associations across Canada who also plan to file formal complaints.

"If Air Canada executives thought they would quietly pass this fee under the radar, they are now realizing their mistake," says Drown.

Filing an official complaint with the Canadian Transportation Agency, by the way, is something individual hunters can - and should! - do. It will help bring political pressure to bear on Air Canada. You can file your complaint online at www.cta-otc.gc.ca. Click on "Air Travel Complaints," then "How to File Complaints" in the left-hand column.

It is worth noting that Air Canada has made some changes in its original proposal to levy a fee on passengers traveling with guns. For starters, it has backed the starting date up five days to June 5, 2006. Also, it has limited somewhat the number of previously booked clients who will have to pay the fee. Originally, Air Canada planned to impose the fee on anyone who travels with a gun, no matter when they booked their ticket. Now, it will apply only to travelers who booked their tickets after April 14, 2006. If you booked your ticket before that time and you have to fly Air Canada this summer, do not let them levy the gun handling fee. Insist that the counter person handling your ticket call a supervisor.

The biggest change of all in the planned levy is one that is sure to anger Americans when they learn of it - namely, the fee has been dropped from $65 CAD each way (about $57 US) to $50 CAD each way (about $45.34 US) for travelers who originate their travel in Canada and $50 US for those who originate their travel in the US. That's right - only those who originate their travel in the US will have to pay $50 US! Europeans, for example, who originate their travel in Madrid, will pay the Spanish currency equivalent of $50 CDN, not $50 US. Ditto Mexican travelers who originate their travel in Mexico.

We found the anti-US discrimination in this policy so flagrant we called repeatedly to verify that Air Canada was indeed about to impose a fee that is higher only for those who originate their travel in the US. We finally reached a spokesperson in the office of David Tait, Senior Vice President for Customer Service. She confirmed the above information.

The good news buried in this new outrage is that Americans who fly into Canada on another carrier and connect with an Air Canada flight inside Canada will also pay $50 CDN, not $50 US. Why Air Canada would flagrantly discriminate against travelers who originate their travel in the US (e.g., mostly Americans) is anyone's guess. It points up just how ineptly - no, stupidly! - Air Canada has proceeded on this matter. The airline deserves whatever it gets from hunters and shooters, especially Americans. - Don Causey.

Another black rhino hunt has been abruptly put on offer in South Africa. And we do mean abruptly. The deadline to submit a bid for this hunt is Monday, June 5, by 10 am South Africa time. The hunt is for a rhino bull in Pilanesberg National Park, in an area of approximately 20,000 hectares. According to the CEO of Kgama Wildlife Operations, Norman Mathebula, the animal is an old bull that has been pushed out of the herd. The bull's front horn measures over 25 inches, he says. The hunt is for this season, to take place by the end of October 2006.

If you are interested in this hunt, you will have to contact your favorite South African safari operator immediately to submit a bid on your behalf. Submissions must be sent directly to Mathebula (The fax number within South Africa is: 014-5942338. E-mail: Norman.m@mweb.co.za). The last black rhino offered this way went for upwards of $150,000 US. Mathebula says he expects this rhino will go for about the same amount.

Just remember that although black rhino may be imported into Europe, American hunters cannot bring this trophy home with them. We are told there is little chance that the US Fish & Wildlife Service will change its policy any time soon either. The first hunter to take a black rhino from Pilanesberg last year was an American, by the way, who left the trophy to be mounted and displayed in South Africa. It is still there at this writing. - Barbara Crown.

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